Broken Skies
by Orin Hasting
Summary: From humble dreams to unspeakable pain and confusion. The life of a boy named Orin. -Rating subject to change-
1. New Tokyo I

The blackish gray clouds that were a common site on New Tokyo slowly rolled across the sky. The warm and inviting sun's radiance transformed into the dull haze that gave the island cities their trademark dreary tone. Soon the rain would fall in sheets and everything would be as usual.

"_So much for the sunny forecast…_" I thought to myself as I gazed out the window, fist propping my head up.

The cold white lighting gave the classroom a doctor's office feel that would have drove me crazy if it wasn't for the mere two hours a weekday I was there. This wasn't public school of course; I had graduated that almost six months ago; this was a private training course funded by the Kusari police force for budding new pilots looking to get a hold of their license and learn some space combat tricks along the way. It had cost my parents a pretty penny. The other students were all around my age; either trust fund brats, children of Kusarian dignitaries, or scholarship wielding youths hoping to earn a spot on the police force or some other house security org.

Me? None of the above. I just want to fly.

"Now then, can someone give me a brief rundown of g-force's effect on humans?" The teacher, Mr. Jon Fischer, turned his attention towards the class. "Orin, how about you?"

My attention rudely shifted off the clouds outside to the waiting face of Mr. Fischer, "Uh…" I faltered; a blank, surprised look on my face.

"Could you be a little more specific Mr. O'Reilly?" The teacher half-smirked and a hush of quiet chuckles and giggles echoed around the room. "Anyone else-"

"Normally, the human body can handle about 5 gees for a short period of time before g-loc." I quickly stated aloud and paused for a moment to collect my thoughts, "With a specialized suit to counter the effect of downward gees and force blood back to the brain, 10 or more gees can be withstood before loss of consciousness. 20 to 30 gees can be handled for a small moment. 100 gees or more even for a brief moment are almost always lethal." I crossed my arms and held back a smug smile.

Mr. Fischer froze for a split second due to the unexpected accuracy, "V-Very good Orin. I see you've done your homework." He reached up a long knotty finger to adjust his eyeglasses further up his large hooked nose. "Of course, as we know, space is considered a zero-g environment. Although there are gravitational forces from nearby planets and moons, the effect of gravity is very low. However, g-forces; or what feel like and have the same effects as them; still occur on the body when thrust and turn are applied. Tunnel vision might be experienced, but even the most powerful of fighters have a hard time producing upwards of 4 gees, so use of g-suits is mostly precautionary in space."

As I rubbed my eyes lightly and focused closer on my instructor I felt a tap on my back.

"That was pretty smooth there O-Man." A student behind me whispered as I turned my head back slightly.

"What was?" I asked lazily.

He smiled and shook his head, "You pulled that one out of the fire, man. You were off in lala-land when Fischer dropped that bomb on you, and sure enough, you go above and beyond." He glanced up, making note that he wasn't too loud and continued in a hushed tone. "I'm just saying; you're good. Damn good."

I rolled my eyes. "It's called studying Yuri. You should try it sometime."

He shrugged and I turned back towards the teacher.

"That's all for today. Remember, three weeks from now: final exam." Mr. Fischer widened his eyes dramatically. "Continue reviewing your procedures notes until then. Class dismissed."

The crowd of students left their seats and moved towards the exit. I stood up as well and headed out with Yuri. He was a year younger than me; still in high school. The shaggy mop of dark brown hair on his head made him look like a big fluffy dog. That, and his round chubby face and his… round chubby body. We had met during the first day of this class and he had proved to the easiest one in the class to hang around with. The guy was the son of an accomplished officer on the police force. Looks like talent skipped a generation, I found myself helping him with his homework more often than not.

"I'll see you Monday Yuri." I waved and as he headed out the door in front of me. He nodded and I followed.

"Orin," I heard a voice from behind me and turned around, "Can I talk to you for a minute?" It was Mr. Fischer.

"Yeah, sure." I replied quickly.

"I just want to commend you." He humbly took his glasses off. "Your dedication to this program is outstanding… I'm giving you top honors. You're clearly the one with the most talent and passion for this."

I felt my mouth hanging open a little. Graduating with highest honors would show anyone hiring you for anything involving space flight that you know what you're doing. Simply put, your resume would look pretty good. "Y-You're kidding right?"

He shook his head, "No, the rest of these students just don't have their heart set on space like you do." Mr. Fischer chuckled shortly. "You really want this, don't you?"

"Yeah, you could say that." I smiled for a second. "Thank you. This means a lot to me."

Mr. Fischer clasped his hands behind his back and turned around, "The final exam… It's not going to be a cakewalk. This course is funded by the Kusari Police." He pivoted towards me on his heel. "You'll be ambushing a wing of Golden Chrysanthemum fighters. If the class can wipe them out… you all pass."

A lump found its way to my throat. "Real pirates? That sounds like a bit much."

"This isn't a simple flight training school; you knew that when you enrolled; this is for those who are going to make a living running escort and swatting fighters out of the sky." He looked me straight in the eye. "You've trained for this for almost a year Orin. I have complete faith in you."

I nodded and averted the gaze.

He pulled a white sheet of office paper off his desk. The writing on it was so small that I thought you would need a magnifying glass to read it. "A waver," I immediately thought. My suspicions were quickly verified as Mr. Fischer continued.

"You'll need your parent's approval of course." He handed me the paper. "This is it Orin. A week from today, you'll be a pilot."

"Yup…" I acknowledged quietly and headed out the door. "_If I survive._"


	2. New Tokyo II

New Tokyo II

"Mom, I'm home!" I called as I shut the door behind me and shifted my pack from my back to my hand, "I've got something for you to sign." I said as casually as I could.

The Nakamoto residence was a simple two bedroom, one bath, apartment in the Chofu district. The style was of basic efficient design with stone gray walls and cutout door-less walkways between the living quarters. The bedrooms and bathroom were fitted with light brown painted doors vaguely mimicking the appearance of wood; long gone from the bustling industrial planet and in high demand as a premium import.

I idly strolled out of the entryway and into the dining room slash kitchen.

"Orin, you're home!" Suzara smiled at her son, "We have a visitor; I think you might like to say hello." She gestured to someone slumped informally on a chair at the dining table with her as she got up to pull a whistling teapot off the stove.

"Huh?" I cocked my head as I took a better look at the strangely familiar figure.

It was a young woman who looked about 17 years old; more or less. She had blazing red hair that just found its way to her shoulders in thick loose curls and wore a formfitting jumpsuit that looked like a uniform of some kind. She had fair skin; not a surprise considering 90 percent of life in the Sirius sector lived on cold space stations and dark industrial planets like the one we were on. Her face was small and had clear simple features that only narrowed her nationality down slightly. As I looked closer I noticed she was pretty, but more than that, she looked tired; not overly so, but tired nonetheless. I think she picked up on my mix of confusion and curiosity; the girl gave me a cheeky smirk. I knew that smirk.

"Tara!" I broke out in a wide grin and; dropping my backpack to the floor; leaned in and gave her a big bear hug. "This is great! When did you get back?"

She playfully nudged me away, "Down slugger, I haven't been gone for that long." She couldn't help but smile again.

"Three years is long enough for me." I returned a harmless slug to her shoulder. "Sorry I didn't recognize you sooner, you look… different."

"Different?" Tara raised her eyebrows slyly.

"No more calling you little sis'," I laughed. "You're a fox."

"Hey! Your mom is here! Show some restraint tiger." She joked purposely in the direction of Ms. Nakamoto.

Suzara shook her head teasingly as she came over with a tray of three steaming teacups, "The day you and Orin get together is the day you stop liking my tea." She put a cup in front of Tara on a small dish and another in the empty place nearest to Orin.

Tara softly blew on the steaming liquid and, bringing it to her lips, furled her brow in mock deliberation, "…Nope. Still the best oolong tea this side of Sirius." She politely nodded to Suzara.

Suzara giggled slightly and placed a dish and cup at her own place before she sat down.

Ms. Suzara Oka Nakamoto was full Kusarian and 48 years old. She lived with me, her son, for about eight months out of the year. She was your typical Kusarian stay-at-home type, her deep black hair up in a loose bun effectively pinned up by a single glossy black chopstick. She had on a baggy, tucked in pink short sleeved shirt that hid any figure she might have lost in not-so-recent years and a tan skirt that fell below her knees. Her features were mature, but not so much that she looked old. She looked well for her age.

I slung my pack from the slick ceramic tile floor to the last empty seat and sat down myself, "So, how was Liberty?" I asked conversationally.

"Cool I guess." Tara replied after taking a sip of tea. "The Ageira course was pretty grueling, so I didn't get a whole lot of time to sightsee, but it's a beautiful system."

"More beautiful than Kusari?"

She showed that trademark smirk again. "Yeah right."

"I hear the pirate activity in that area is out of control." Suzara chimed in. "What do those nuisances call themselves there? The Liberty… Robes?"

Tara and I held back giggles, "Rogues." We corrected her simultaneously, quickly shooting each other good-humored smiles.

Ms. Nakamoto nodded in recognition, "Yes. Did any of your transports have trouble with them?" She finished her thought with a serious look.

If I had to pick out one fault my mother had, it would be that she was that she was a total worrywart. And that was exactly the reason I was sweating telling her about the waver she had to sign for the final exam. I debated bringing up that subject while Tara was there for a little support, but that wouldn't have been very cool.

"Actually no. Apparently, even though there are so many of them running around, they are under control to some measure. Liberty has been updating their Police and Navy ships to cut down needless casualties and keep the Rogues' numbers down." Tara explained. "I even heard that the Navy discovered one of their bases in an independent system and destroyed it."

"Well that sounds lovely." Suzara replied politely. She couldn't follow anything involving space or ships or space stations. Ever.

I choked down a laugh and changed the subject. "So what kind of things did you learn at the Ageira training school?"

"Construction of jump gates and rings, properties and natures of jump holes, prototype theories of new jump technologies, the like. If I told you anymore I'd have to kill ya'." She looked to me and winked.

I laughed. I hadn't heard Tara's stupid jokes in three years. I couldn't help it. "Good to have you back Schultz." I winked back.

"You too O'Reilly." Tara scooted her chair back and stood up, "As fun as this is, I've really got to go. I just got back; haven't even dropped back in with the folks yet." She gestured slightly with her empty teacup to Ms. Nakamoto. "I missed this. You know I'll be back for more, thank you."

Suzara smiled modestly. "You're very welcome Tara. I'm just glad you're back home."

"Me too, me too." She repeated as she slinked over to the door.

"See you later Tara." I said, getting up to walk her to the door.

She gave me a quick squeeze and picked up a duffle bag that must have been her luggage. "We'll have to catch up some more soon, buddy."

"Definitely."

With that she disappeared out the door with a final quick wave goodbye.

Tara Schultz and I had been best friends since grade school. We were inseparable. Early into our sophomore year of high school she got accepted into a special school; run by the Liberty-based organization Ageira Technologies; that was developed to take advantage of budding young minds and integrate them into their scientific program. Tara always was the brainy one. Whereas I would want go outside to throw the football around, she would rather study. Real fun; I know; but she wasn't all bookworm. She was the one person I really confided in over the years. When my parents went through their breakup, she was there for me; and I for her when she had her issues. We would spend hours talking about our hopes and dreams, where we would be in twenty years, if we ever wanted to have kids. Tara was the kind of friend that everyone wished they had. That's why it was so hard when she decided to leave for three years. I knew it was what she wanted, so I hid how much I was hurting. After she was gone, I felt pretty empty for awhile; it's hard losing a best friend for that long. I wouldn't have known what to do after I finished school if it wasn't for the flight school that I enrolled in early in my senior year. It helped me focus on something and got me closer to my dream of flying in the process. I was dreading showing Mom the permission slip. Or waver. I definitely wasn't going to call it that around her.

"So, uh, Mom?" I nonchalantly opened as I finished rinsing off some dishes from dinner. "Only a week until my final exam."

She looked up from the book that she was reading. "Really? That's great Orin."

I fished the wav- **permission slip** out of my pocket, "Yeah, the teach told me you have to sign this. You know, probably just some graduation release formality or something." I lied, walking over and handing the paper to her. I was hoping she would just glance at it and sign. I was kidding myself.

She adjusted her reading glasses and leaned in real close. Small print, aye?

"This document…" Suzara breathed to herself as she looked over the slip, "…in case of death from weapons fire, malfunctioning spacecraft or craft equipment, friendly fire, oxygen deprivation- This list goes on forever!" She looked up and gave me a worried gaze. "What kind of exam _is_ this?"

Busted. I fumbled for an excuse. "Oh you know how those things always are. Death this, dismemberment that. It's just a precaution." I wasn't fooling anyone.

"Orin," She held a gaze that I couldn't get away from. "What kind of exam is this?"

I sighed. I had no choice but to spill and hope she would be understanding, "I don't know all the details," I didn't. "But I know that the class will have to head out into actual space combat."

"Just as a test right? Like against an instructor with practice lasers?" She was slowly getting more and more worked up.

This wasn't going well, "Uh, no. We'll be fighting pirates." My voice trailed off.

Her eyes shot wide open, "Pirates?" She exclaimed. "Absolutely not! I'm not signing my little boy's death certificate-"

"I'm not your little boy anymore!" I shot back. It was harsh, but I wanted this more than she knew. I couldn't back down now, "Look," I calmed my voice down slightly. "I can handle this. I've been training for this for a year now. Mr. Fischer is giving me top honors… And it's still a school! They'll pull us out of there if it gets too dangerous. You know that!"

Suzara smiled weakly, "Top honors? …I'm proud of you Orin," She bit her lip and looked down in division with her feelings. She wanted me to be happy of course, but she didn't want me dead. I couldn't argue with that, but I wasn't going to die. "But it's just too much… When your father and I enrolled you in this school we didn't think you were going to be going to toe-to-toe with armed criminals." She said finally. "Try to understand where I'm coming from. Please."

I closed my eyes for a moment. I had to choose my words carefully, "I am. I understand, but this means a lot to me. I know you've taken risks in your life before." I reasoned, throwing her past at her.

I won't go into the details; mostly because I don't know them; but quiet homemaker Suzara Nakamoto was once a member of The Green Front; an organized group of environmental activists with semi-open communications with the house governments. She did something that was a little too liberal for them and was forced to leave the group. It was pretty forward bringing that up as justification, but I wasn't pulling any punches.

Suzara looked down, looking as if she was just hit in the gut, "If this is that important to you… I won't stop you," She reluctantly signed the waver and handed it back to me. "But that doesn't mean I approve of it."

I bowed slightly in a Kusarian gesture of respect. "I know. I'm not completely looking forward to this either, but it's something I have to do. I hope you can understand that."

She nodded solemnly.

"I'm going to bed." I left her and headed to my room.

---

Suzara sat there on the couch for a while, mulling over the events that just took place, wondering if she did the right thing, "Oh Jacob," She sighed. "It's not easy without you here. What would you have done…?"

Darkness slowly crept over the industrial island of Chofu and night began.


	3. Growing Up

**Growing Up**

Thunderous booms shook the walls of the thick transparent tube that formed an optional walkway between a few buildings. The sky was dark, sounding with thunder every few moments and sending down disturbingly heavy torrents of rain. Most people would unintentionally flinch at the deafening explosions in sky, not those on New Tokyo. They dealt with it far too much; a sort of developed white noise drowned it out from their eardrums.

I readjusted my backpack to a more comfortable position as I strode out of the large building that housed the classroom of the flight school. I watched as people busily carried on their days; merchants wearing fine pressed suits and carrying slick dark briefcases scurrying off to their latest legal and quasi-legal deals with smugglers and freelancers, shipping company workers pushing dollies loaded high with crates packed full of Synth paste, students like myself hurrying of to their next classes or casually strolling back to their homes. It was an archetypical day on New Tokyo.

As I lazily gazed upon the scenery around me I felt and heard a faint hum against the roaring backdrop of noise. Snapped out of my haze, I dug into my pocket and pulled out my mobile comm device. My eyes moved to its face, expecting the familiar 'Mom' to appear; instead, four letters appeared that made my heart jump in excitement. It was Tara.

It was Monday and I hadn't talked to her since her visit when she had gotten planet-side. I had considered giving her a ring a few times over the week, but had decided against it. Her family missed her; I didn't feel like interfering with that.

"Hey there." I greeted with an unseen smile. "Bout' time you rang."

Tara's voice came after a moment, "Sorry… Things have been crazy." even over the comm I sensed something uneasy in her normally bubbly persona.

"Uh, no problem." My smile fell. "Something wrong Tara?"

"No… it's nothing."

She wasn't convincing me. "Tara. I've known you long enough t-"

"Where are you right now?" She interrupted suddenly. "Can you get away?"

"I'm just getting out of school, sure."

"Meet me at that caf? us kids used to hang out at." She paused. "In ten minutes?"

"Yeah, I'll see you there." I heard a quick blip of static immediately after I finished. She was gone.

My heart dropped. I wasn't used to hearing Tara upset. I wasn't used to hearing Tara at all, but you know what I mean. I shoved the comm back in my pants pocket and jogged off towards the caf?.

---

It only took me five or so minutes to make it to the caf?. I looked up to the awning that held a wrought iron sign spelling the words 'Rain Haven' in a stylish way. The name's meaning was pretty obvious as I scuttled out of the transparent walkway; raising my backpack over my head to block the buckets that fell from above; and over to the small covered courtyard. I shook the water off my bag, hoping none of the papers inside got too wet, when I glimpsed a familiar redhead sitting alone and staring in daze off at the downpour.

"This seat taken, miss?" I asked in a fake deep voice.

The girl's eyed shot from the rain to my waiting face, "Hey," she gave me a weak smile. "You're early."

"Hope that's alright," I sat down in the chair adjacent from her. "So what's new?"

Tara lowered her head in thought, "I'm not one for holding anything in so…" She looked up at me with a serious face. "I'm leaving New Tokyo."

My brow creased in confusion, "What?" I had only been there for twenty seconds and I did already not like where this was going.

Her face softened, "My assignment is in. Ageira is constructing a research station in the Shikoku system and I've been asked to lead the scientific research division there." There was a mix of exhilaration and melancholy in those beautiful silver eyes. "I'll have a whole team of scientists working under me… It's a dream-come-true…"

I feigned a proud smile. "That's great! This is what you've always wanted!"

She turned her face away from me for a few long moments, "Then why do I feel like I'm losing everything?" when she turned back I could see the tears in the corners of her eyes.

My own emotions were bouncing around in my gut, looking for a way to show themselves. Instead, I put my hand on her shoulder and looked her straight on, "It's hard leaving home, but it's the only way to get on." I took a second to collect the words that I was only putting part of my conviction into. "You'll be sad for awhile if you go… But if you don't take this opportunity and grab it by the horns like I know you want to, you'll regret it even more. Trust me."

A sad smile formed on her lips as she held back tears, "I know… I just…" the fleshly floodgates couldn't ebb the tide, she threw her arms around me from across the table and sobbed into my shoulder, "I just start getting back to normal…" she sniveled out after she got her composure back a little. "And everything is changing again. It's not fair that I have to leave everything I love to pursue my dream."

"Hey, I'm not ecstatic about my best friend leaving again either, but in the end, I know you'll be happy." I nodded with a smile. "That's what really matters to me."

Tara grinned with tears dripping down her cheeks, "I don't deserve a friend like you." She finished with a hint of her quintessential smirk.

"Now that's the Tara I know."

She giggled and leaned back in her chair, wiping the watery remnants away. "Two weeks."

"That gives us some time." I reasoned as I motioned for a waitress to come over.

"I'll still visit as much as I can." The girl assured more to herself than anyone.

"Being the head scientist lady has got to have _some_ perks." I chuckled as the waitress made it to our table.

The waitress was young and spunky with short, curly brown hair held together by a company hair band. "Hey guys! What can I getcha'? Our special today is the Cambridge ble-"

"A Double-shot Venti Caramel Espresso Mocha Cappuccino. Extra whip cream." Tara stated without a second thought.

"Whoa-! I better get to that on the double!" The waitress exclaimed in mock importance, "Anything for you sir?" She chuckled.

"Heh, could I get the normal human version of that?" I laughed.

"Comin' right up." She scurried off to the kitchen.

I gave Tara a look of total disbelief. Jokingly, of course. We both burst out laughing after a second. It felt good to disarm the moment of all gravity.

"So you've got your final exam tomorrow, aye…?"


End file.
